Good day Shrek! I’m a Noobie to the podcast from South Georgia, USA!! I have thoroughly enjoyed your channel since finding it several months ago! Brilliant, funny and very helpful content!! Keep up the good work!
I agree with Eric……getting left behind is the worst!!! (listen in to the lost at sea segment below)
It’s happened to me on my own boat! I was adrift with my buddy off of Cudjo Key in Florida last year for several hours!! It started out a beautiful day! No current and no wind and no clouds! However that changed in the afternoon. Wind, clouds and current seem to appear out of nowhere. Our boat driver quickly lost sight of us and due to the winds and seas picking up, could not see or hear us!! We were just off the reef which is about 3km from shore and quickly being pulled further out!! We started swimming to a light house structure on the reef with our guns, floats and fish! I knew we would not starve as mother ocean had provided for us that day, but nonetheless it was frightening wondering if we would be able to make it in the current to the lighthouse structure on the reef for safety.
This pic from Craig Seadog illustrates how easy it is to get separated from the boat
After swimming for about two hours and not making much progress, I finally saw a boat heading in our direction. I put the fish stringer on the end of my gun and waved it in the air as high as possible and fortunately they saw us and came to us. Once on board, I was able to call my boat which was about 7 miles from our original location. The day ended well but the pucker factor was real!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣.
I grew up on the water and looking back at that day I realize I made several mistakes.
Number one: I had gotten too comfortable and not prepared from a safety standpoint for getting separated from the boat.
Number two: In hindsight, I had a person on the boat that wasn’t experienced enough to pay attention to wind and current to know which way we would have drifted.
Since that day I have prepped for safety better. I found a company out of Canada that make a personal locator beacon. This is a great little device and you can wear it on your weight belt. There’s no monthly fees and you change the battery every couple of years! Now I keep four of these devices on my boat and every Diver gets one for the day. I’m not sure if this company has services in Africa but it is worth looking into if you could pass it along to Eric! I will be purchasing some of the inflatable floats like this one (aka Safety Sausage) or this Neptonics Safety Signal Inflatable Float you mentioned.
Neptonics Safety Sausage. Neptonics Inflatable Safety Signal Float
Thank you for all of the helpful information on your podcast! I’ve been scuba diving since I was 10 but I have only been free diving for two years, I’m 50 and I can’t believe I’ve been missing this stuff!!
Summary of club activity: contact the club through Facebook on the FREEDIVE ALBERTA group page or through email [email protected] Club is free to join, and events would include organized dive trips, group meetings, etc… ultimately looking to create a platform from which fellow free divers can connect and find dive buddy’s and training partners to expand the community in my local area!
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Waking up by natural light was awesome and i went to check my pollack frame trap I was pleased to find a crab big enough for the pot. make the call to move on to another good spot i know which would benefit more from the excellent conditions. I said i would only travel a few miles but much like Forest Gump when i get going i cant stop. I shoot passed my intended spot and head to a beach i know has Scallops. Upon making my way out to the Scallop grounds my gopro housing sprung a leak at depth and drowned. With a dead gopro and dwindling phone battery if anything were to go wrong i wouldnt be able to call for help. I make the call to end the trip on highs of 8 excellent days Hike and Spear despite the gopro situation.
A beautiful morning but it was time to pack up and get some miles underfoot. The weather continues to go in my favour the winds have dropped off and im set for some good diving. I stumble across a lovely little beach where i decide to make a disused boat shed as my camp for the night, i gear up and get wet. I collect a decent Spider crab and a lovely fat pollack. I cook the crab up in some boiled seawater and smashed it with a rock to get at the meat. Delicious. I was hoping for a bass as this spot and ground is usually good for some big boys. The pollack will be saved for the next day. I use the pollack frame once filleted as bait for some crabs and hopefully a lobster obver night.
The heat of the morning sun woke me in my tent, i chilled on the sand after breakfast debating when to get in the water, i had already decided after yesterday’s effort and a couple of blisters forming i would have a day rest to prevent them from getting out of control. Finally, i made the call jumped in the water and got my spear game on, despite not seeing much and spooking a giant bass. I made my way to some slightly different ground the vis was on my side but i came across a pollack which i bagged to secure some lunch, then i came across a flatfish i shot straight down on it, it bounced out i scrambled to reload the gun whilst keeping an eye on the fish, placing a second shot onto it before it coming off a second time. i decide to go after it with my hands. I secure the fish and celebrate for a good 5 mins that dinner would be on the cards. Dinner with a sunset.
Packing up camp on my perfect little beach to head off onto the next ground, i stopped at the shops in the morning to buy some ingredients for some dish ideas i had come up with overnight. I hiked and hiked destined for my prized spearfishing spot, sadly when i arrived there were some drunk people on the beach, fearing the worst for my gear to be left on the beach whilst i go and spear i decided to move on cross the estuary and seek solitude. A bloody long hiking day i foraged some goodies along the path and made a foraged veggie spaghetti that was enough to keep me fuelled for the mornings dive. The beach i camped at was absolutely perfect and quiet it had a fresh water stream and i was stoked to see what kind of underwater ground it might hold.
